Government can't ignore personal debt crisis

May 23, 2006 9:00 AM

David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, has raised the issue of personal debt in the House of Commons.

Individuals in the UK owe more than £1trillian in personal debt and in the first quarter of this year the number of people voluntarily initiating bankruptcy procedures had increased by 84.6% since last year.

Mr. Howarth commented:

"The Government has got to take the issue of personal debt seriously. A huge increase in the number of bankruptcies is likely to make creditors far more wary of lending and this will affect those at the lower end of the income scale the most as interest rates on loans rise."